discussion HMS Rodney - Tamiya 1/700 scale

[Jim R]

Firstly a happy new year to one and all. I hope 2019 proves to be a great year.
The last couple of months have been very frustrating for me. A whole load of silly life issues cropped up, none very serious but dented my modelling mojo and restricted bench time. I am looking forward to joining in with two light-hearted, fun GBs this year (The Toon Challenge and the Starter Kit build) but felt I needed a more serious project as well. I went to my rather small stash and found this. A Tamiya kit from the 1970s.

View attachment 324484
I bought it at a show for the grand sum of £6 and put it away and forgot it was there. When I opened it the other day I found this at the bottom of the box.
View attachment 324487
That was an surprise and so I decided to give it a go. You don't get much in the kit - basic but nice.
View attachment 324485
View attachment 324486
A single sheet with a bit of history and instructions and a couple of decals.

Just for any one interested. HMS Rodney was build in Birkenhead in the mid 1920s. Unusual in that all her main armament (9 16inch guns) were at the pointy end. She had quite a history in WW2. In 1941 she torpedoed the Bismark, she was part of Operation Torch, the invasion of Sicily and the D-Day landings as well as escorting convoys on the Murmansk run. She was scrapped in 1948.

The kit is of the ship before the war but the PE set allows it to be made as a WW2 version. It underwent many upgrades during its service and it is very difficult to figure out what was altered and when. I'll kind of muddle through to make something close to how she looked towards the end of WW2. Also by choosing that period I think I can get away with a camo paint job rather than just grey. (The chart here is from a different kit, Trumpeter I think, a later incarnation of HMS Rodney)
View attachment 324483

I hope some of you will feel it worth following along. Those who know me will know I model at a snails pace so be patient.

Jim

 

[Dave Ward]

Jim,
I used to make these 1/700 waterline ships ( I still have some in the stash ), but as my eyes, and fingers got older, I moved up the scales! Those PE parts look tiny - I always had difficulty in getting them to stay attached - I tried adding them before painting and after, and nothing seemed to consistently work. I'll be interested to see how you handle it.
Dave

 

[Guest]

Oooh I love ships and have done a fair few of them in my life.
Looking forward to seeing this come together:smiling3:.
Here is a link to a kit I made a few years ago.
https://www.scale-models.co.uk/threads/ijn-yukikaze.24780/

 

[scottie3158]

Hi Jim,
Firstly a happy new year to you and yours. I will follow along to see how you cope with the tiny bling.

 

[Steve Jones]

As soon as I saw HMS Rodney I knew I had seen this ship before so I looked it up. It certainly had a glittering career. Looking forward to watching her come together. Good luck

 

[Guest]

I'm in Jim. Will sit with Steve and Paul.
Glad your feeling better , and lets hope this year is a good one to us all .
John.

 

[Jim R]

Hi all
Dave - I made a couple of these 1/700 ships a few years ago but with no PE. I certainly won't use all on the fret.
Ralph - nice to have you along. I hope this turns out as nicely as yours.
Scottie - ahh the tiny bits of bling. It really is at the limit of what I can do :worried:
Steve - HMS Rodney sure did have a colourful career. In 1931 her crew were involved in the Invergordon Mutiny and "On 12 August 1944 the British battleship HMS Rodney fired 75 x 16-inch shells at Batterie Blücher, on the German occupied Channel Islands, in an attempt to destroy the battery which had been firing at the American advance on the Cotentin Peninsula."
John - thanks. The end of last year was just silly. Infections, coughs, colds and all sorts of other stuff. All fine now although I still have the sniffles :tongue-out3:

A little progress on the main turrets. A bit of PE and drilled out the main guns. The ends were 1mm diameter and I used a 0.5mm drill. Didn't go in very far as I was worried the drill would come out of the side!!

View attachment 324603View attachment 324604View attachment 324605

Thanks for following along. Much appreciated as I know how much good stuff there is to keep up with on the forum.

Jim

 

[Guest]

Looking good Jim.
Don't think about how good other people are,think about how much fun you're having.:smiling3:.

 

[Fernando N]

Happy new year Jim and what a nice little kit with a great bonus.:thumb2:
Great work with the tiny pe already, looking forward to see more.

 

[Si Benson]

Evening Jim and best wishes for the new year...
Looks like a fun project you’ve got under way....and photoetch to bling it up too !
I’ll grab a brew and take a pew:thumb2:

 

[rtfoe]

Not many ships of this scale on the forum Jim and it's great to see you tackle another one of these. At 6 Pounds with PE it's a steal.

I remember my Dad telling me the story about how both Rodney and Nelson were built...somewhere along the way they ran out of money and had to cut short and finish the back end as is. I was such a der and almost believed it until I knew it was a joke. :tears-of-joy::smiling6:

Will keep you company on this long journey...am used to it anyway as you know.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[SimonT]

Hi Jim - right bonus finding the teeny tiny etch inside!

Quite like the look of it with the structure at the back - not much use if you are being chased though

I shall try and keep an eye out for this one

 

[Guest]

I follow along sir. Looking good already. Have fun.

 

[Guest]

Hi Jim, great to see your work again and a good start on the Rodney! Looking forward to see your great modelling works again.

Cheers
DIRK

 

[papa 695]

Just seen this one Jim, a very nice start.

 

[Guest]

Hi Jim very nice start your serious build
(And Toon's aren't serious:thinking: :tears-of-joy::tears-of-joy
Keep up the great work mate, how you can work with such small parts is well beyond me.
Pete.:thumb2:

 

[Jim R]

Hi all
Wow - far more interest in this than I imagined. Very grateful for the support. Thanks.
A little progress. Secondary 6inch armament built. The far left turret looks to have a 'loose' barrel which will need fixing!
View attachment 324911
One of the early war upgrades was to install a catapult and crane for a Walrus float plane.
View attachment 324913
Due to the way the guns were positioned on the deck the catapult was mounted on a main gun turret. The PE part is fiddly and may need some scratched bits added - those cylinders along the side whatever they are. Now some of you could probably scratch a 1/700 Walrus but I have ordered some :rolling:
View attachment 324912
Thanks again :thumb2:
Jim

 

[spanner570]

Looking good Jim.
I think the cylinders might contain compressed air to power the aircraft catapult.

Ron

 

[minitnkr]

No "run away" in this architecture. Very impressive. PaulE

 

[Steve Jones]

Beautiful work as always Jim. The PE has certainly enhanced the build. Looking forward to seeing the next update:thumb2: